


Into the Unknown

by cassielassie



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Light Angst, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-25
Updated: 2019-08-25
Packaged: 2020-09-26 01:06:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20381158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cassielassie/pseuds/cassielassie
Summary: A leap of faith is all it takes.





	1. Chapter 1

**Into the Unknown**

by aurevoir / cassielassie

  
_beta'd by and banner by bittersweetflames @ tda, written for ad astara's Sink Your Ship challenge @ hpff._

* * *

_December 28, 2000_  
  
Hermione stepped through the door, unwrapping her scarf and watching absently as the snow fell to the ground. She looked around the packed bar, content to see that she didn’t recognize anyone in the area. Hermione shrugged out of her coat and headed towards the bar, dropping her stuff on an empty seat to the right.  
  
“What’ll it be tonight, miss?”  
  
She tucked a few unruly curls behind her ear and leaned forward on her forearms. “You happen to have any scotch?”  
  
“You young’uns are awful fond of that Muggle drink.”  
  
She smiled half-heartedly at him and slid the change across the bar. The bar tender placed the glass in front of her and she lifted the glass to her lips. Hermione looked at the jacket sitting next to her and reached her hand inside the pocket, dropping the item on the table in front of her glass.  
  
Hermione stared at the ring on the table, her hand clenched firmly around the glass to the right. Such a little thing. But it had ruined her life. A simple, single-set diamond ring in a silver-gold band. And with its appearance into her life, everything she had known for the last four years had gone down the drain as if someone had snapped their fingers.  
  
She quickly downed the rest of her drink and waved at the bartender to get another drink. He set it down in front of her and Hermione tossed the change across the table. She poked at the ring absently and took another sip.  
  
_"What do you mean you aren't ready for this? Bloody hell, Hermione. It's been four years! Ginny and Harry are already expecting their first born." Ron's hand with the ring fell to his side._  
  
_Hermione hastily wiped her face to dry the tears and wrapped her arms around herself. "What they're doing has nothing to do with me, Ronald! I'm not…I can't yet. The Healer…s-she said I'm making progress! I just need time, Ron. I can't commit to it when I can't even sleep in the same room as someone else!"_  
  
_ Ron shook his head. "Why am I not enough?! Why can't I chase away your demons?"_  
  
_ "It has nothing to do with you! It has to do with me. I just can't. I can't give you a broken mind. Why can't you wait until I'm whole?! I'm just asking you to wait!" Hermione sobbed and put a hand over her mouth._  
  
_ "I'm not asking you to get married this very instant, Hermione! I just want that promise – I want to show the world that we will be together. But you can't even commit to that!" Ron looked away, running a hand through his hair, and looked back at her. "You want to heal? Fine. I'll leave you alone." Ron pitched the ring in his hand at the ground in front of her. "Keep that as your reminder."_  
  
_ Hermione watched as Ron turned on his heel and left her in the park. Sinking to her knees, Hermione shakily picked up the ring, her tears silently falling down her face. She just couldn't…not yet…._  
  
Hermione jerked as someone sat next to her loudly, her hand quickly going to cover the ring in front of her. She looked to her left and frowned.  
  
“Oh, look happier, Granger.” His words slurred slightly as he took a deep drink from his glass. “It’s just your everyday, run of the mill bouncing ferret.” He snorted into his drink and finished the rest of it, shoving it across the bar to receive another  
  
She huffed out and took a sip of her scotch. “Get over yourself, Malfoy. I can be in a bad mood without you being the root of the cause.”  
  
Malfoy scooted his bar stool closer to hers, looking between her arms. “I feel as if the root of that is hiding under your hand.”  
  
Hermione looked at her clenched hand and shrugged. “What’s it matter to you, Malfoy? Just let me have my drink in peace.” She swirled the drink around in her glass and took a sip. “Shouldn’t you be off with your worshipping snakes?”  
  
Malfoy’s face hardened and he slammed the drink he’d been about to take a sip of. “If you’d been bothered to pay attention, you would see that I did not come with those people.”  
  
Looking behind her, Hermione noticed the lack of his cronies in the bar. She turned back to Malfoy, and shrugged sadly.  
  
The two sat there in silence for a time, silently drinking from their glasses. Malfoy finished his drink and started to push back from the bar, but Hermione spoke up.  
  
“I told him I needed time.”  
  
Malfoy paused, staring at her uncertainly, but hovered above his seat. Hermione hesitated, unsure why she was doing this, but took her hand off the ring that sat in front of her.  
  
“I couldn’t give an answer.”  
  
Malfoy thumped back down onto his stool, looking at the ring.  
  
“You couldn’t answer?”  
  
Hermione poked at the ring, covering it back up quickly. “I’m only twenty-one years old. I … I can’t settle down. I have so much I want to do.”  
  
She slammed her fist down unexpectedly, earning a stern glare from the barman. Malfoy looked around and noticed the curious looks the two of them were getting.  
  
“Maybe we should take this elsewhere, Granger.”  
  
Malfoy nodded back to the general crowd and Hermione scowled at the people looking her way. She threw back the rest of her drink and stumbled off of her stool. Without checking behind her, she walked towards the door, collecting her scarf and coat.  
  
\------  
  
Hermione stumbled down the path, ignoring the arm Malfoy offered to help her keep her balance. The biting winds kept the park mostly empty except for a few couples. Malfoy followed behind Hermione, stumbling himself even as he tried to keep Hermione from falling over.  
  
“Here.” Hermione abruptly stopped at a bench, the lights reflecting off of the pond across from the bench.  
  
Malfoy stumbled into her back, using her shoulders to stabilize himself. He wanted for Hermione to elaborate more, but she remained mute, looking out over the pond.  
  
“Here...what? Here’s where you kill me? Here’s where you take my virtue?”  
  
Hermione took a step and turned sharply, causing Malfoy to stumble forward. She slapped away the hand that started to reach for her shoulder, and stumbled to the seat. Malfoy regained his balance and fell down onto the seat next to her.  
  
The two stared at the lake, Malfoy wishing he had a glass of water to drink. Hermione moved next to him and he looked at her.  
  
“This was where he asked me...to marry him.” Hermione opened up her hand in her lap, the street lamp reflecting off of the silver. “Where I told him I needed time. Where everything...changed.”  
  
The two sat for a while until Hermione found herself sobering up and feeling uncomfortable. She started moving in her seat anxiously, but didn’t want to leave as Malfoy was still staring straight ahead, stoic.  
  
As she opened her mouth to say something, Malfoy spoke up.  
  
“She dumped me.” His voice sounded strained and Hermione looked at him hesitantly, but he was still looking out.  
  
Hermione played with a piece of hair, looking at Malfoy sideways. “Who?”  
  
Malfoy didn’t respond and Hermione spoke out again, “Malfoy, who?”  
  
She reached over to prod him, but he slapped her finger away.  
  
“I heard you, Granger. Not all of us are as accustomed to sharing our emotions.” He sighed and put his head in his hands. “Astoria. We were engaged. To be married in three months. And she just...ended it. Said she needed to travel, see the world without me.”  
  
Hermione sat silently, not sure whether she should comfort him in any way. The two continued to sit, neither of them exchanging words, lost in their own thoughts. Eventually, birds started chirping around them. Hermione started and looked up, realizing she had dozed off. Seeing the sun over the horizon, she turned to see Malfoy with his chin on his chest and snoring lightly.  
  
Cocking her head, Hermione looked at Malfoy. He wasn’t too different from the boy she’d gone to school yet. But obviously there was something different. Whether it be from his own heartbreak or the alcohol, she wasn’t going to guess.  
  
She shook her head and stood up from the bench, stretching out the limbs that had locked up overnight. She twisted side to side, popping her back.  
  
“What’re you doing?” A voice drawled, heavy in sleep.  
  
Hermione turned back around and raised her eyebrows. “It’s morning. I’m stretching. And I’m hungry.”  
  
Malfoy’s stomach made a noise at her last comment and Hermione couldn’t help but laugh lightly.  
  
“And apparently so are you.” Hermione gestured back the way they came. “There’s a cafe over that way. If you’d want to get coffee. And breakfast.”  
  
Malfoy grunted, but stood up and started walking that way without waiting. Hermione trailed behind, wondering why she found herself being so nice to him. And why he wasn’t being a smart ass about it.  
  
Maybe the end of her relationship with Ron was a way for her to branch out - experience things she never had before. She stuck her hand in her pocket and pulled out the ring, turning it over in her fingers.  
  
“Granger. I’m hungry, move your feet.”  
  
Hermione looked up and saw Malfoy a distance of ahead, arms crossed and tapping his foot. She rolled her eyes and sighed.  
  
“Coming, o great one.” Hermione quickly mocked a curtsey towards Malfoy.  
  
She heard Malfoy mutter, but couldn’t hear what he said, but she moved her feet towards him. As she caught up, he turned and they walked side by side. Hermione slid the ring back into her pocket, patting the pocket from the outside.  
  
Maybe it was time for her to take a leap into the unknown.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this story back in 2015 and decided to move it over to AO3 from HPFF (aurevoir there). In the last two years, I've had a lot of deaths in my life and have been struggling to write like I used to - especially for original stories, even though I have plot bunnies. I decided to phase myself back into it with fanfiction - where I started. While I work on a new story to post here, I decided to migrate some of my other stories and updated as necessary. I hope everyone enjoys.


	2. Chapter 2

**Into the Unknown **

by aurevoir / cassielassie

_beta'd by and banner by bittersweetflames @ tda, written for ad astara's Sink Your Ship challenge @ hpff._

* * *

_September 19, 2001_  
  
“Happy birthday, Hermione.” Draco smiled and placed the cupcake in front of Hermione.  
  
She groaned at seeing the ‘22’ candles on the cupcake. “Did you have to remind me of how old I am?”  
  
Before she could blow out the candles, Draco pulled her into his arms. “I have to to remind myself of how young and lithe I am.”  
  
Draco laughed as Hermione reached back and slapped him. He wrangled her arms down so that she could not reach him again. The two wrestled for a while, laughing, before Hermione blew out the candles and cut the cupcake for them to share.  
  
“You would think I’d learned my lesson in third year.”  
  
Hermione smiled cheekily at him before shoving some of the cupcake in her mouth. While she was busy enjoying the delicious cake, Draco set a small box in front of her.  
  
“Draco,” she mumbled around the food before swallowing the cupcake. “I told you not to get me anything. Just being able to spend today with you without landing in the tabloids is enough for me.”  
  
He shrugged and Hermione slid off his lap, trying to hide her eagerness as she pulled the box towards herself. She eagerly ripped off the wrapping, seeing a jewel box. Opening it, she gasped and pulled the necklace out. It was a small, diamond-encrusted infinity sign at the end of a simple chain.  
  
“Oh, Draco. It’s beautiful.”  
  
Draco reached out and rubbed a tear that had fallen onto her cheek, smiling. “I hope you like it. I thought it was a good symbol for us. I thought about having it be a snake, but I thought that might make it uncomfortable to wear. But look at the back.”  
  
She turned over the infinity sign and read the message._ My heart belongs to you, infinitely._ Hermione felt tears well up in her eyes and threw her arms around Draco, burying her head into his neck.  
  
“Oh, thank you thank you thank you.”  
  
Draco laughed before having her turn with her back to him. He lifted the necklace above her head and under her hair, fastening the clip. Hugging her from behind, he whispered in her ear.  
  
“I love you, Hermione.”  
  
Hermione closed her eyes, reveling in the blissful moment. Everything was going so … well. She hadn’t known what to expect when she had gone to breakfast with Draco that morning, but this had not been what she had expected last February.  
  
And despite that, everything was perfect.  
  
“I love you too, Draco.”  
  
\---  
  
_June 5, 2002_  
  
Draco unlocked the door with a sigh, dropping his briefcase by the door. The weather was unbearably hot already, and it was just barely summer, at the beginning of June. He loosened his necktie and dropped his coat onto the coat rack. He started into the kitchen, starting when she saw the balloons, streamers, and a large cake on the table.  
  
“I knew how stressed you had been at work, so I thought I would surprise you.” Hermione came out from behind a balloon, smiling broadly. “I hope you don’t mind. I also have dinner plans for us. In muggle London, so don’t worry about anyone seeing us.”  
  
Draco smiled and pulled Hermione into his arms, peppering her hair with light kisses. “Anything you plan is perfect.”  
  
Hermione smiled at him and pulled him along behind her. “We’ll come back for the cake.”  
  
Thirty minutes later found the two of them at a small local park, where a festival was going on. Hermione dragged Draco through the crowds, beelining for something very particular. Stopping outside of the large machine. Draco stood there, staring at it absently as Hermione grinned at him.  
  
“Just you wait.” Hermione pulled him under the curtain and dropped the coins into the machine. The lights flashed after a few seconds and a picture printed out. “Do you see? It’s just a muggle photo booth!”  
  
Draco laughed and the two took various photos, before Draco decided on one to keep. Looking down at it, Draco smiled as he looked at a picture of Hermione giggling as he kissed her cheek. A flurry of movement from Hermione distracted him and he looked to see her digging around in her charmed purse.  
  
“What on Earth are you doing, Hermione? You look ridiculous.”  
  
Hermione sighed and rolled her eyes. “I’m trying to find your present. You’ll see in a second.”  
  
Grabbing onto something, Hermione made a triumphant noise and pulled out a small box. “Found it!” She put it into Draco’s hands. “Open it!”  
  
Hesitantly, Draco opened the box and pulled out a folded piece of leather. “Uh, Hermione. What is it?”  
  
Hermione laughed and took it from his hands, opening it and showing him all the pockets. “It’s for your money. You’re always complaining about the pouches that the wizarding world uses - so I thought I would get you what we use.”  
  
Draco dug some of his money out and started putting it in. He smiled as he saw Hermione's inscription in the corner, but then his eyebrows crossed. “What’s the clear plastic bit for?” He unfolded the plastic rectangles, confused.  
  
Hermione took the photo from Draco’s hand and slid it in. “It’s where you put pictures of the ones you really care about.”  
  
She grinned up at him and Draco kissed her softly. He was the luckiest man alive.  
  
\---  
  
_August 23, 2002_  
  
“I don’t even know why you’re so angry, Hermione.” Draco’s voice sounded through the apartment as he opened the door, letting them both inside.  
  
“Because the moment you caught the voices of people from the wizarding world, we had to run like we’re fugitives of the law!” Hermione stood by the couch, arms crossed in anger. “How can you still want to hide this?! We’ve been together a whole year and a half. Everyone knows I’m seeing somebody! I can’t field off their questions forever. Eventually Harry is going to set someone to follow me all the time!”  
  
Draco paced back and forth in front of her, running a hand through his hair.  
  
“I just...I don’t want you to get hurt by the things people are going to say about me! It kills me inside, Hermione.”  
  
Draco tried to pull Hermione into his arms, but she pushed him away, walking to the other side of the couch. “I’m not a rag doll who you can make decisions for, Draco! I’m an adult! I’m 22 years old! I want to shout to the world I’m in a relationship with you, but apparently you don’t feel the same way about this relationship as I do!”  
  
Hermione’s voice hitched at the wind, and she wrapped her arms around herself. Draco had turned to the table and braced his hands on it, his eyes closed.  
  
“I don’t want to be kept a secret forever, Draco. But if you aren’t ready to admit this relationship is serious…”  
  
Draco turned around, eyes blazing. “You think I don’t find this relationship serious, Granger?” Fumbling in his pocket, Draco slammed something down on the table and pointed at it. “Then what the bloody hell do you call that? A jest? Just a passing gift?”  
  
Hermione felt her eyes tear up as she saw the engagement ring on the table. “Draco…”  
  
Draco waved his hand to cut her off. “Don’t bother, I’ve heard your rejection by story before. I don’t need my own rejection, Granger.” His words cut at Hermione and she felt her heart break.  
  
“How dare you use that against me. If it hadn’t been for that, we wouldn’t have even been together.”  
  
“Maybe that would have been for the best!”  
  
At some point in the argument, Hermione had walked around the couch and the two of them stood head to head. Slowly, Hermione picked up the ring from the table and shoved it into his chest, forcing Draco to grab it or drop it.  
  
“Fine. Then take your ring. You obviously didn’t realize what the sentiment meant when you bought it.”  
  
Hermione narrowed her eyes as Draco reached into his pocket again. Dumping his money on the table, he thrust the wallet into Hermione’s hands. “I won’t be needing this. I’ll stick to the wizarding ways.”  
  
She looked down at the wallet and felt the tears bubbling up, but refused to let him see her cry. She knew this had been coming for a while - what with all the arguments about going public. Something was bound to happen. One way or another. She had just hoped for something better.  
  
She stiffly walked to the door, the wallet clutched to her chest. As she opened the door, she looked back one last time, unable to keep the tears from falling.  
  
“Goodbye, Draco.” 


	3. Chapter 3

**Into the Unknown**

by aurevoir / cassielassie

  
_beta'd by and banner by bittersweetflames @ tda, written for ad astara's Sink Your Ship challenge @ hpff. I don't own anything but the plot._

* * *

_October 5, 2004_  
  
Draco stared at the newspaper in his hand, watching as Ron twirled Hermione around in the photo. He wasn’t sure why he felt the compulsive need to check the social portion every day, but he did. And he had finally found what he was looking for.  
  
Hermione seemed … happy. Whether it was a figment of his imagination or not, Draco couldn’t help but feeling like there was a glint missing from her eyes - that glint of mischievousness she always had when they were together.  
  
Even though it wasn’t a wedding photo, merely an announcement that the wedding was in a month, Draco felt like he had lost something he could never replace. He would never feel her hand in his hair again, her laughter when he did something foolish, or see that look of concentration on her face. Never again.  
  
Pulling his other hand out of his pocket, Draco stared absently at the small, gold ring. So much meaning held in such a little trinket. He could not help but understand the heartache that Weasley had felt two years ago. Hearing the door open, Draco shoved the ring back in his pocket and tossed the newspaper into the chair before turning around.  
  
“Draco, dear, your mother wants us in the drawing room to work on some final details for the wedding.” Astoria waltzed into the room, her hair immaculate as always.  
  
“I’ll be there shortly.”  
  
Draco tried to turn back around, but Astoria grabbed his arms, forcing him to look at her. She tried to keep eye contact with him, but he looked away, not wanting her to see the pain he could feel.  
  
Astoria’s arms fell to her sides and she sighed, causing Draco to look back up at her.  
  
“I...I don’t know what happened to you while we were apart. I don’t know who it was that you spent so much time with, that she bewitched you so.”  
  
Draco opened his mouth to speak and Astoria stopped him.  
  
“You don’t have to tell me. I don’t want to know. I could hardly expect you to just sit around and wait for me while I was exploring the world. But I know you wish it was her you were marrying.” Draco closed his eyes, not wanting Astoria to see the truth, but she forced him to look at her.  
  
“But I know we can make each other happy, Draco. I may not be the one you love but you are one of my closest friends. And for the sake of our families, I think we can do this. Maybe someday, you can be with her. But from the way you have been moping today…” Astoria’s eyes flickered to the newspaper cast on the chair before looking back at Draco. “I don’t think it will happen. But I promise, we can live platonically together. Just as you are my friend...I am yours.”  
  
When Astoria wiped his face, Draco was surprised to realize one tear had leaked out. She smiled at him, before turning and heading to the door. “Meet us in ten minutes in the drawing room.”  
  
The door shut and Draco looked at the newspaper. Grabbing it, he hurried to his desk and cut out the picture. He pulled out a piece of parchment, and scribbled a note. He then pulled the ring out of his pocket, and set it down beside his words.  
  
_So you can never forget the love that we had. I will never stop loving you._  
  
He rolled the picture up with the note, and placed all of it in an envelope, writing Hermione’s name on the front. Walking over to the window, Draco whistled for an owl. Impatiently shifting foot to foot, he hastily tied the package to to the owl’s foot and sent him on his way.  
  
As Draco watched the owl shrink in the distance, he felt his heart constrict. Almost like his heart strings were attached to the letter flying away.  
  
\---  
  
_October 12, 2004_  
  
Hermione sat at her desk, the package opened in front of her, next to that day’s newspaper. She’d received the package a week ago, and every night since, had found herself staring at it for hours, contemplating everything.  
  
But she knew know it was too late.  
  
The social section in the newspaper mocked her, as she saw Astoria glowing next to Draco. Hermione knew Astoria was gorgeous, but she could not look away from Draco. She had imagined him in a wedding tux, but it had always been for their wedding. Not like this.  
  
She touched the piece of paper with his writing softly, feeling her heart break. Rationally, she made the right decision. And she knew this. But she still felt herself longing to feel his arms wrapped around her, just one more time. For him to call her by her last name when she did something to irritate him.  
  
But it wasn’t meant to be.  
  
He had a wife now. And in two weeks, she would have a husband. They would acknowledge each other in public, but they could never be friends. Not without people asking questions. Not with their whole relationship having been a secret. Hermione hadn’t even been able to build the courage to tell Ron or Harry.  
  
She didn’t know if she would ever build the courage.  
  
Hermione opened the top drawer, pulling out the leather wallet that was in there. Just soft enough that it didn’t feel brand new, it still had the manufacturing creases near the seams. She opened it, running her fingers over the inscription inside.  
  
_Forever mine._  
  
How her own words mocked her so. Angry, Hermione chucked the wallet against the wall, feeling a few tears work their way down her face. Using her wand, she charmed the door so Ron wouldn’t hear and come see what was wrong.  
  
Looking back at the floor, Hermione noticed a small rectangular piece of paper that must have fallen out of the wallet when she threw it. Standing up, she picked it up to see a picture of her and Draco on the front, bringing a whole new slew of emotions.  
  
It was from his birthday - when she had given him the wallet. When she had taken him to muggle London. And he had kept the ridiculous photo from the photo booth. Sniffing, she turned the picture over to find writing.  
  
_Even when we are distant from each other, you will always be a part of my soul._  
  
Hermione felt the tears slide down her cheeks, but couldn’t be bothered to care. Even when he had given something to her in anger, he had left her a message. One that conveyed the same thing as his written note. Even though they weren’t meant to be … they would always have that year and a half together. A time of growth and change.  
  
Feeling inspiration, Hermione ran back to her desk. Grabbing a piece of paper, she scribbled a note.  
  
_You deserve to have a happy piece of memory. Don’t worry, I duplicated the photo for myself._  
  
Doing exactly as she said she would, Hermione put the original photo back in the wallet, wrapping it up with the note. Rushing to the cage in the corner, she coaxed her owl out and tied it to his leg. She took him to the window and set him out, wiping the tears from her eyes.  
  
Knowing he would think of her as often as she thought of him, Hermione walked back to the desk. She gathered up all the momentos of him from the table top and the drawer, walking back to the corner of the room where her trunk was, a memory box sitting on top. Hermione placed each item in the box slowly, pausing for a moment at the necklace he got her for her birthday. She finally reached the ring and slowly turned it in her fingers, before placing it on top of everything else.  
  
She opened the trunk, placed the box inside with a charm, and closed the trunk.  
  
To move forward in her life, where she knew what to expect.   


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A short and bitter-sweet story - assuming you are a Dramione fan. Slight whimsy with enough of real life. I have one other story I'm planning on migrating that's complete but I think I need to make some updates to it. Comments always welcome.


End file.
